SpecialFNK wrote:if Callaspo is gone, who plays 3B for the Angles?word is Chris Nelson was pulled from the AAA game.

I talked up Luis Jimenez before the season as a legitimate sleeper. He didn't look so hot in his first MLB action, but he was solid in the minors before dealing with a shoulder injury that has kept him out for the last six weeks. Jimenez is probably a couple weeks away from returning, and at that point I think they give him a shot at the everyday job if no one else has stepped up.

Peavy to the Red Sox, Iglesias to the Tigers, Avasail Garcia likely to the White Sox, dunno about the rest. Iglesias takes over SS when Peralta is suspended.

Red Sox rumored to be including Middlebrooks in the deal too. If both him and Iglesias get traded, you have to either think the Red Sox have a Michael Young deal on the table and Young's consent of a trade (unlikely all that has taken place) ... or that Bogaerts is about to be instilled at 3B for the rest of the season.

Money is always an issue. The Phillies got the three best and cheapest seasons from Lee in 2011-2013. There is just very little, if any, surplus value remaining. Lee's next three seasons have a higher AAV than the deals Verlander/Felix/Greinke signed within the past 12 months. And he's a lot older than those three. In reality I'm sure the Phillies would be ecstatic to get anything of value for him, but obviously their first attempt is going to be to shoot for the moon (Bogaerts).

Felix and Verlander were not available in FA and Greinke isn't as good as Lee. If it were as simple as just throwing a pile of money into FA then it wouldn't make sense to trade a top prospect for Lee but it isn't. Next year's FA class has Garza, Burnett and JJohnson in it. None of these guys are close to Cliff Lee's tier of pitchers. If you want an ace then you will probably have to trade a top prospect or two. It shouldn't need to be Bogaerts but it should be a really good prospect but it looks like they will go after Peavy now.

daullaz wrote:Red Sox rumored to be including Middlebrooks in the deal too. If both him and Iglesias get traded, you have to either think the Red Sox have a Michael Young deal on the table and Young's consent of a trade (unlikely all that has taken place) ... or that Bogaerts is about to be instilled at 3B for the rest of the season.

Looking like three lesser prospects instead of Middlebrooks going back to the White Sox from the Red Sox. Bryan Villarreal also going to Boston.

If Lee gets traded, it would likely take a "mystery team." Never count out the Dodgers -- I could see them giving up something like Joc Pederson (blocked in OF) and Zach Lee along with a lesser prospect or two and not blinking at the salary they'd be absorbing in Lee.

Money is always an issue. The Phillies got the three best and cheapest seasons from Lee in 2011-2013. There is just very little, if any, surplus value remaining. Lee's next three seasons have a higher AAV than the deals Verlander/Felix/Greinke signed within the past 12 months. And he's a lot older than those three. In reality I'm sure the Phillies would be ecstatic to get anything of value for him, but obviously their first attempt is going to be to shoot for the moon (Bogaerts).

Felix and Verlander were not available in FA and Greinke isn't as good as Lee. If it were as simple as just throwing a pile of money into FA then it wouldn't make sense to trade a top prospect for Lee but it isn't. Next year's FA class has Garza, Burnett and JJohnson in it. None of these guys are close to Cliff Lee's tier of pitchers. If you want an ace then you will probably have to trade a top prospect or two. It shouldn't need to be Bogaerts but it should be a really good prospect but it looks like they will go after Peavy now.

They signed away their FA seasons, it wasn't arb years or anything that drove the price down. Point is that there's no value there. These guys don't come up as FA very often, but Lee was a FA a couple years ago. Nobody, including the Red Sox, offered a 31 year old Cliff Lee more than $22.5M/yr so what makes you think they'd add in a top prospect and take on the heavily back-loaded portion for the now 34 year old? If the Phillies can get a big prospect for him, they should do it in a heartbeat. They might get a fringe prospect but my original point was to laugh at Amaro's suggestion that he would take no less than 3 of a team's top prospects.

Money is always an issue. The Phillies got the three best and cheapest seasons from Lee in 2011-2013. There is just very little, if any, surplus value remaining. Lee's next three seasons have a higher AAV than the deals Verlander/Felix/Greinke signed within the past 12 months. And he's a lot older than those three. In reality I'm sure the Phillies would be ecstatic to get anything of value for him, but obviously their first attempt is going to be to shoot for the moon (Bogaerts).

Felix and Verlander were not available in FA and Greinke isn't as good as Lee. If it were as simple as just throwing a pile of money into FA then it wouldn't make sense to trade a top prospect for Lee but it isn't. Next year's FA class has Garza, Burnett and JJohnson in it. None of these guys are close to Cliff Lee's tier of pitchers. If you want an ace then you will probably have to trade a top prospect or two. It shouldn't need to be Bogaerts but it should be a really good prospect but it looks like they will go after Peavy now.

They signed away their FA seasons, it wasn't arb years or anything that drove the price down. Point is that there's no value there. These guys don't come up as FA very often, but Lee was a FA a couple years ago. Nobody, including the Red Sox, offered a 31 year old Cliff Lee more than $22.5M/yr so what makes you think they'd add in a top prospect and take on the heavily back-loaded portion for the now 34 year old? If the Phillies can get a big prospect for him, they should do it in a heartbeat. They might get a fringe prospect but my original point was to laugh at Amaro's suggestion that he would take no less than 3 of a team's top prospects.

They still weren't available for everyone to sign. And there is definitely not anyone close to Lee to sign next offseason. It was backloaded but this isn't the Buehrle contract that we are talking about. 25M/yr for an elite pitcher is not ridiculous.